INTERNATIONAL CALL: WORLD SOLIDARITY DAY

FREE LULA | LULA LIBRE | LULA LIVRE

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the most popular leader in Brazil, stood out as a worker leader in the 1970s and during his term as brazilian president, his social policies against famine and poverty became internationally known.

After the parliamentary coup, which in 2016 unjustifiably dismissed President Dilma Rousseff, the conservative offensive also takes place by criminalizing national popular leaderships. In continuation of this process, Lula received an absurd arrest warrant in April, after being unjustly convicted in January of this year, in a trial without material evidence and full of legal anomalies.

Lula has been in prison for more than 100 days in an individual cell at the Federal Police headquarters in the city of Curitiba, where he receives affectionately the news about demonstrations occurring in all corners of the world in his solidarity and demanding his immediate freedom. On August 15, 2018, brazilian organizations and militants struggling for Lula’s freedom and his right to be a candidate will mobilize to follow the registration of his presidential candidacy. In previous days, international expressions of solidarity will be fundamental.

We call on the entire international community that defends democracy and human rights – governments, trade unions, social and popular organizations, activists, artists, intellectuals, religious leaders, journalists, politicians, etc. to participate in the WORLD JOURNEY OF SOLIDARITY: FREE LULA between August 1 and 15, for which we ask for your commitment and support.

SUPPORT MANUAL

For the next few days until August 15, the FREE LULA International Committee proposes the following actions:

1. On 13 August, organize demonstrations in front of the Brazilian embassies and consulates to denounce Lula’s political prisionment. Please send the infos of the acts previously for difusion and their memory, with photos of the activities (along with information such as location, time, and organizations involved in the action and some relevant information) to the email: [email protected]

2. Also on 13 August, send a letter addressed to Supremo Tribunal Federal (STF – the Brazilian Supreme Court), demanding the annulment of the arbitrary sentence that holds Lula imprisoned for political reasons, requesting his immediate release and defending his right to be a candidate for the presidency of Brazil. In addition, protocol this letter at the Brazilian embassies and consulates and send it to [email protected], with a copy to [email protected]. You can find a letter template here.

3. Participate in tweeting on August 15, the day of President Lula’s nomination as presidential candidate. We will concentrate our actions between 12h-15h (Brasília time), using the following hashtags:a.#FreeLula b.#LulaLivre c.#LulaLibreThese hashtags will also be used in mobilizations in Brazil and may be used to track their contents.

4. Press articulation: send requests to local media vehicles (and the suggested mailing attached hereto) asking for the Lula case and its political prison, the candidate’s registration on the 15th, and the judicial persecution he has been suffering case be debated and noticiated. With the monopoly of the Brazilian press, international press coverage has done the important job of sticking the Brazilian bubble and spreading the truth. Also brieff the Lula case in the allied vehicles and press.

5. Articulate with parliamentarians from the most diverse spheres the approval of motions in support of Lula’s right to be a candidate and to demand his freedom in national parliaments, assemblies and thematic commissions. Also, articulate the other actions contained in this manual.

6. Send photos with posters in defense of Lula and democracy in Brazil and disseminate widely through the socialmedia. Use the hashtags (#FreeLula | #LulaLivre | #LulaLibre) and enter your information (organization name, country, etc). We also ask you to send the materials for difusion and memory to: [email protected] Here are also some suggestions for phrases, but others may be used: “IN DEFENSE OF DEMOCRACY AND LULA”, “LULA LIVRE, LULA CANDIDATE” and “JUSTICE FOR LULA”. Send your photos by e-mail too, for dissemination and memory: [email protected]

The international manifestations will be disseminated in the networks of the Free Lula International Committee:

The International Committee of Solidarity in Defence of Lula and Democracy in Brazil is a group of entities whose goal is to reinforce initiatives defending democracy restoration, the right of Lula to a just trial and the right for the Brazilians to elect the leadership they understand are from their greatest interest.